Reviews by kmeves:

Tastes like caramel roasted malts and fruity, honey, molasses, bittersweet. Has a good aftertaste, very sweet. A decent dopplebock. Light and drinkable, the lagering really helps smooth this out. A nice intro to the doppelbock style.

More User Reviews:

If for nothing else, this is the beer that got me off of macro beer and experimenting into microbrews. While this isn't the prime beer for connoisseurs it is an excellent gateway beer for newbies. Liked the roastiness when I had it back in the mid 90's in dark body. Maximum respect. Tell your friends to try this one before offerings like Rasputin... they may not be ready for that yet.

If I was to base my review soley on this being a dopplebock, the score would be a 1.5, This is in not a very good representation of that style. I did however give it a better score because I found it to be a very nice easy drinking brown ale, which is what it should be marketed as,Taste was malty, nutty with some caramel.It was a thin beer with a thin white head. I would buy again for the price I got it at.

A - Deep garnet brew that appears brownish-black when not held to the light. A nice tan one finger head reduces to a thin cap within a minute, and some nice lace is left on the glass.

S - Mushroom like smell reminds me of pizza. This is not unpleasant, but very odd and unexpected. Caramel and whole wheat bread.

T - Vegetal, mushroomy, dusty, and bready. Again, not quite nasty....but not very good either. I taste nothing of the expected flavors in a dopplebock.

M - Thin and watery. Undercarbonated and odd-feeling in the mouth.

D - Not good. This is far off the beaten path as far as style goes, and the mushroomy characteristics are bizzare and unwelcome. I really like Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark and I thought that this would be similar but maltier...boy was I wrong. Leinenkugel has come up with another sub-par brew. Creamy Dark is the Leinenkugel brew that I like so far. Avoid this one.

Interesting: Doesn't really taste like a classic doppelbock in the german sense: (Salvator, Celebrator, Optimator, etc), but it's actually pretty drinkable. (Maybe somewhere between a doppelbock and black beer in reality.) Some doppel-like sweetness upfront, but not really a lasting one and no bitterness at the close + pretty pedestrian ABV. Maybe a note or two of "metal" early on that thankfully seemed to dissipate. Pretty smooth overall. Not much head or lacing. Noticed a pretty big carbonation pop when the cap was removed. Had with pizza & would drink it again, although I might lean toward having an actual black beer (New Belgium's 1554 for instance), if I wanted something with this type of taste profile and reserve my Doppel-choices for the above.

Smell - Not as strong as you might expect. Malty with a little caramel, but not at all prominent.

Taste - Not much too taste at all. There is some roasted malt flavor here, hint of burnt caramel or mollasses maybe. This beer is, however, quite thin for its class. Not the robust beer one would expect from its appearance. Not actively offensive.

Mouthfeel - Thin. Watery. More carbonated, crisp than I would expect from this sort of beer.

Drinkability - This is not a "very strong and rich lager." Would certainly rate better if Leinie's didn't label this a doppelbock. Like most who have already rated this beer, I want a lot more out of my doppelbock.

And what's up with the marketing of this beer? Head butting goats doesn't strike me as very Midwestern Northwoods. Just weird.

I picked up a six pack of Leinenkugel's Big Butt Doppelbock yesterday at Krogers. I've been meaning to try this beer and I thought I should get a six pack and give this beer a chance, so lets see how it goes. Bottled on 1/25/15. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a imperial pint glass.

A- The label looks nice, it's got a nice design to it and it's just a little eye catching. It poured a pretty clear amber red color that took on more of a red color when held to the light with a finger and half worth of creamy light tan head that died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and it left hardly any lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking beer, but I wish it left some lacing.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the malts being the first to show up and they impart some sweet malt, caramel malt, grainy, brown bread and bread crust like aroma with some clean yeast showing up in the background. up next comes a noticeable nutty aroma with some more toasted aromas showing up with just a slight earthy hop aroma. This beer had a decent aroma, but I wouldn't say it's true to style.

T- The taste seems to be pretty similar to the aroma and it starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the malts still being the first to show up and they impart the same malts aspects that they did in the aroma, but this time they have more of a toasted and roasted aspect to them. Up next comes that clean yeast that goes right into the a that same nutty aspect that I got in the aroma and this time it shows up just a little more. On the finish there's not bitterness with some sweetness taking it's place and it has a sweet malt, caramel malt, toasted and nutty aftertaste. This is a decent tasting beer, it just not true to style.

M- Very smooth, pretty crisp, slightly prickly, a little creamy, on the thicker side of being medium bodied with a higher amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel was decent, but it was too carbonated for the style.

Overall I thought this was a decent beer, but I didn't think it was a good example of the style, it just seemed to roasty for a Doppelbock and the big nutty aspects felt out of place too, to me it tasted similar to creamy dark with less roasted flavors and more nutty flavors. This beer had nice drinkability, it was very smooth, pretty crisp, slightly prickly, a little creamy, not too filling and the taste did a nice job at holding my attention, I could drink a few of these, especially in the spring time. What I like the most about this beer was the was the taste, it wasn't bad tasting beer, it just wasn't true to style. What I liked the least about this beer was how off from the style it was, there's no way I would guess this is a Doppelbock if i tried it blind. I might buy this beer again, but not if I want a good Doppelbock. I think this beer is worth trying, but if your expecting a true to style Doppelbock you will disappointed. All in all I liked this beer, I just didn't think it was a Doppelbock, to me it tasted much more like a brown Ale. It's not a favorite from this brewery and it's one of my least favorite Doppelbocks. I appreciate the effort, but I think this beer should just be rename and just start from scratch, better luck next time guys.

I could have sworn I rated this beer before Leinie's dropped it for the last few years. At that time I thought it was a fine beer, although it has never been an actual doppelbock, with its 5.8 ABV.
I won't bother trying to remember my old review, and it no longer applies anyway. While this beer is easy enough to drink, it is barely even a bock in its newest incarnation. Perhaps they just renamed their 1888 Bock. This beer is a very thin, dark lager with just the barest hint of a caramel note to the taste and even a kiss of hops in the aftertaste. It's main competition would be Amber Bock in the category of "too thin to be an actual bock" beers. Very disappointing.

12 oz. bottle with a brown and gold shiny label that has one of the biggest butts that has ever been on a beer label. This butt is so big that you can....I mean, the label has two big goats or rams (your choice) head butting over land or a female. These goats or rams are head butting under the Leinenkugel symbol of a Native American woman looking to her right. If you look closely, the goats or rams and the Leinenkugel symbol are in front of a room filled to the brim with oak beer barrels. The neck label has the Leinenkugel symbol with a small sentence about the brewery and they ask if you want to join their club. No thanks! No date anywhere, but on the border of the neck and the bell of the bottle is some kind of batch or bin number that the brewery can only read and not their consumers. Poured into a Pilsener glass.

This big butt was a dark chestnut brown with plenty of ruby highlights all through out the beer. It had this really nice creamy one finger head of this white going on tan colored foam. It had really good retention and left behind plenty of sticky white/tan colored lace and rings. The appearance was so nice that I had hoped that the rest of the beer was going to turn out just as nice as it looked. Long story short, it didn't! It had an aroma of dry spicy hops with just the slightest touch of roasted caramel malts. When I swirled it around, a mild whiff of cantaloupe emerged. When it warms up, the cantaloupe aroma gets a little stronger and conquers the spicy hops and malts. I don't want to know why there was cantaloupe in the aroma. The taste was WEAK and THIN! Not only that, but the flavors weren't good either. The taste was that of bitter hops with a dash of caramel, a hint a roasted malts, and with a slight alcohol head butt at the end. It was more hoppy than malty and that just doesn't seem right to me. What isn't right is all those weak and thin flavors in this beer. The mouthfeel was way too light, heavily carbonated, and with an aftertaste that has more taste in it than what's in initial taste. The roasted malt aftertaste should have been in the initial taste instead of showing up late in the aftertaste. Basically it looked really nice, but looks can be deceiving. One of the best looking, but worst tasting Doppelbocks out there. It's just a dumbed down Doppelbock that I'm sure I won't touch ever again.

This beer is a dark cola color with two fingers of tan head that vaporized quickly with noisey, soda-like fizzing. It holds steady at a thin layer. Nose is brown sugar, cinnamon, and nut.

I am struck first by a big earhty hop flavor, then bitter deeply rasted dark malt, then sweet sweet nutty-toffee malt. There is a strong cola character and a slightly alcoholic aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is a little out there I admit. It is oddly light and thin fizzy, stingy carbonation that wafts up into the sinuses.

I really love this beer. It is an odd one, and almost resembles soda more than beer, but what an awesome soda it is eh? I feel its low rating probably comes from the unfortunate name of "Dopplebock" surly it is no mach for any "-ator". It is cheap and damn delicious though.

Poured a dark amberish color, creamy head, coffee type of aroma.The taste was a light malty coffeeish roast flavor, with a slight bitter aftertaste. This beer used to be bolder,I might drink it when I'm thirsty and would prefer a darker type beer. Beginners who are having their first dark beer seem to like it also.

Nice dark copper color. The malt and hop aroma was muted but I was drinking this in a smoking bar, not by choice! I enjoyed the balance of the malt and hops, started out mostly malt but the hops became just pronounced enough at the finish. More hoppy than the typical German doppelbock. A bit thin for a doppelbock as far as mouthfeel goes. Certainly not the best doppelbock I've ever had but a decent american take on this style. Added notes; my favorite Leine so far. Leinenkugel only brews this beer as a seasonal so it was at least 4-6 months old when I tried it. I could drink a few of these no problem.

My buddy talked me into buying a six of this. I think he thought the name was cool. Taste is pretty smooth, though not as much as some other dopples. Some tasty chocolate malt is present. I could tell this was a Leinenkugel product. Nothing too special here. Still, glad I tired it.

Threes across the board on this one. Just average, and as others have said...not bad, but not great. Especially when compared to true doppelbocks. Poured dark amber with a decent long lasting creamy head. The aroma was definitely malt as was the taste, but not enough for what I expect from a doppelbock. It is a decent deal when compared to what can be paid for the higher priced ones.

Not a big doppelbock drinker. Wife picked up a six pack more her style. Seems average, not bad. Strong, caramelly malt flavor from smell to finish, never too overbearing. Since I am on the hoppy side of life, while very open minded to all types, I have a tougher time in this bock area. I'll try to grab a high rated bock ASAP to gain a better feel. Big Butt worth a try or a 6.

A substantial black pour yielding almost no head, so there wasn't much in terms of lacing or retention to speak about, but the color and consistency save the rating from falling into a negative connotation.

Aroma is usual for a doppelbock: all over the place, some harsh bitterness, vanilla, prune/plum dark fruit hints, alcohol seemingly higher than the label would indicate.

Taste, tobacco?, alcohol, bitter soy sauce, just not super enjoyable for me. Where's the sweetness, this is amazingly bitter and somewhat harsh given the alcohol and lack of hops. Where did said bitterness come from? Maybe some anise/licorice, something going on here just doesn't pan out well.

Had this first back in law school, kinda funny, a friend with a much bigger rack than butt talked this beer up. Actually she had a nice butt (ah drinking romps), wondered why she never flaunted that as much as the huge chest. Oh well, I'd say avoid this beer if you're a big doppelbock fan, but the label is pretty cool.

Now that Spring is drawing closer, I tapped the last of these in my fridge last night....very subdued yeast/malt aroma, dark brown-amber color. Malt flavors mixed with a thin "detergent" taste...Thickens in the back of the tongue. Finish is OK, a little diacetyl -- maybe. Initial off taste and lack of more malt flavor rank it mediocre. I'm beginning to think that "Leinie's" Original Lager (a decent but really mild American Lager) and one or two of their extinct brews from the 90's are the best you can (or could) expect...Too bad, the name stretches back to 1867....

Appears a ruddy burgundy brown hue with a large quickly fleeting caramel tan head leaving thin lacing unevenly around my pint glass. (3.5) Aroma comes off with a layer of fruity undertones especially ripened fruits like raisins and plum notes mild chocolate doughy sweetness going on with a grainy off quality that Im not really diggin. (3.0) Flavor is far from a doppelbock and Im not sure where the alcohol content lies but it comes off finishing like a normal brew some mild dark chocolate and roasted qualities but overall lacking the herbal noble hops finish with the complex fruit and alcohol mix that a true doppelbock is able to provide. Doesnt fulfill my German beer cravings the way it should but its a decent shot and better than the Leine wheat beers with apple, honey, raspberry, etc. (2.5) Mouthfeel is in the light to medium body range with some substantial light syrupy textures carbonation is a bit too much but doesnt ruin the experience. (3) Drinkability is not too high for me although compare this to a Celebrator and you could probably consume more I dont think you would want to, its a six to one ratio Id rather drink one Celebrator before drinking a sixer of this. (2)